Dick Broadie plays piano with jazz all-stars!

Wednesday, April 6, 2011

My long time friend (more than 40 years) Floyd Levin (see Wikipedia) interviewed me in late 2006. Since he died within months of this interview, I don't believe this article was ever submitted to it's intended target: The International Association of Jazz Record Collector's Journal.

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Richard G. "Dick" Broadie, a native of Iowa played his first professional job as a musician as a teen-ager more than 50 years ago in his home town of Waverly Iowa. While studying electronics in Chicago, he played clarinet with Bob Scobey and Clancy Hayes for a brief stint at the Brass Rail until it was determined that he was too young to be legally performing in this setting.

Not long after graduating from electronics school in 1958, Dick moved to California. A week after his 21st birthday, in 1960 Dick was introduced to Duke Ellington and Jimmy Rushing in San Francisco where he played a benefit with them. At the time, Dick could frequently be seen sitting in with Turk Murphy, again with Clancy Hayes at his side. From that time to the present, Dick played many jobs with some of the world's greatest musicians. A partial list includes: Bobby Hackett, Eddie Miller, Ray Leatherwood, Nat Pierce, Teddy Wilson, Wild Bill Davidson, Johnny St. Cyr, Ed "Montudie" Garland, Peanuts Hucko, Charlie Beal, Russ Haddock, Joe Massters, Rex Stewart, Wellman Braud, Henry Cuesta, Rex Stewart, Pete Daily, Teddy Buckner, and his friend and mentor of more than 25 years, Barney Bigard.

In late 1960, Dick joined the Southern California Hot Jazz Society and during the next 10 years was involved musically and/or politically with an array of jazz clubs including the Society for the Preservation of Dixieland Jazz, the New Orleans Jazz Club of Southern California, the Valley Jazz Club and the South Bay Jazz Club. Dick performed at the Sacramento Jazz festival during nine of its first ten years - on five different instruments.

In 1971, Dick moved to Palm Springs where he eventually co-founded the Palm Springs Jazz Society. Around 1980, he was named the first president of the Palm Springs Jazz Association. When this club became fragmented between traditional and bop musicians, Shirley Copeland was given the PS Jazz Associations mailing list from which she started the Dixieland Jazz Society of the Desert with her friend, Don McNeeley. Subsequently, Dick served the Dixieland Jazz Society of the Desert as the leader of the Dixieland 111 Jazz Band and/or a member of its Board of Directors for many years.

As a musician in the desert, Dick worked in numerous night spots and country clubs including the famous Palm Springs Racquet Club. He lead groups while performing for/with such luminaries as Frank Sinatra, Zsa Zsa Gabor, Hoagy Charmichael,Rosalie Hearst and Gerald Ford. For many years, he was in the American Federation of Musicians . An ASCAP member since 1973, he estimates that he has written more than 100 songs. After composing several comedy country songs that were performed for his employer, Gene Autry, Mr. Autry, while president of the Academy of Country Music, personally sponsored Dick's membership into that organization.

Before moving to Palm Springs, Dick received his BA degree in Psychology and was in his Masters program at UCLA when he left to do work for the National Institute of Mental Health as an research scientist. This lead to his assisting in authoring mental health related sections of the Welfare and Institutions code as a consultant to the legal counsel of the California State Legislature.

After arriving in Palm Springs, Dick managed large properties for a LA based investment firm, owned a sign business, worked on staff at Desert Hospital and Canyon Springs hospitals in charge of their psychiatric units for more than 10 years. During this time, Dick used his electronics background and musician's ear to invent a system to convert monaural music into stereophonic sound. Dick holds patents in this field in the US and elsewhere and, until his recent retirement, has been the President and CEO of Broadie Sound, Inc.. In this capacity, Dick became a familiar face at such places as Capitol Records (Ultra-Lounge series) , Paramount Pictures, MGM/Sony and Vidfilm in Los Angeles and AVID records in England. For the latter company Dick engineered more than 30 jazz related projects including Louis Armstrong, Nat Cole, Ella Fitzgerald, Billie Holiday and Duke Ellington CDs. On a personal note, I’d like to thank Dick for his remastering many historic recordings for me including Nordskog jazz recordings made in Los Angeles as early as 1921. This was done at the request of the Nordskog family. (See Wikipedia)

Professional engineering organizations in which he has been active include the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences, (NARAS) , the Audio Engineering Society (AES) , the Society of Motion Picture and Television Engineers (SMPTE), and the Sapphire Society. He recently received an award as one of the six most interesting men in the Coachella Valley from the Palm Springs Woman's Press Club along with his friend of many years, Herb Jeffries. He is a recipient of the Southern California Motion Picture Council's Golden Halo Award for technical and musical achievement.

Dick has been married to his beautiful wife, Sharon, for more than 40 years, has three sons and currently spreads much of his spare time doing volunteer work for such organizations as the Mizell Senior Center, the American Legion and the Institute of Critical Care Medicine.

Floyd Levin11361 Dona Lisa DriveStudio City, CA 91604818 983-0858

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In 2003, following surgery for colon cancer, I retired from my audio related activities, severely cut back on my traveling and have since concentrated on performing music and lecturing on subjects from jazz to politics. "O we ain't got a barrel of money..." but we're now having a very nice life. Tests in early 2011 indicate there's no return of the cancer. Thank you, Lord.

4-8-11

I recently referred a potential consumer of my music to this blog. Her response was essentially “so what have you done lately”? Below is my answer:

Since Floyd wrote the bio, I performed on piano at Davey’s Hideaway for 9 months, Cipollini for 18 months, and the Old Creek House for 9 months. Other fine restaurants/clubs that I’ve performed at include Trinidad and Le Vallauris.

Every Wednesday I host a jam session at the Mizell Senior Center from 10 to noon. At the peak of our season we had 29 musicians show up and locked the doors before 10 am because the room was already filled to capacity with listeners. My “Unusual Suspects” Jazz Band plays most Friday nights at the American Legion.

In addition to these activities, in the last three weeks, I’ve played for 700 attendees at Hotel Zozo, played twice at both the Four Seasons and Canyon Shores Country Clubs, played five parties in private homes and have donated more than a few hours of music to the Mizell Senior Center, The Stroke Recovery Center, my church and several nursing homes. I'm sure glad I've slowed down so much following my "retirement." :-)

Saturday, December 5, 2009

Wow! A picture of Frank Sinatra and me!!!!I believe I was playing bass with the Joe Massters Trio at Mr. Sinatra's golf tournament at the Canyon Hotel when the photo of Mr. Sinatra and myself was taken around 1975. while the big band was on it's break. I wish to thank Mr. Johnson for emailing this to me. In the 1970s I was blessed to be part of the best jazz trio in Palm Springs. While at the Club Trinidad for several years, we became Frank's home base as he and Joe became very close friends. I wasn't aware of the many famous players Joe Massters had worked with on the East Coast before he came to Palm Springs. In retrospect, all I can say is Wow! See more about Mr. Massters and the monster players he worked with below.

Yesterday, I posted a brand new music video for you to enjoy. It's located at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g7HREzjxORgI recommend it to those who are concerned about what's happening behind closed doors in Washington D.C. And if you wish, you can sing along by following the bouncing ball. My technology was quite crude as I photographed video off of my monitor and used my camera's mic to pick up the sound from my speakers. As a pro audio guy, I don't recommend this technology to anyone. I had a cold as I recorded this so my voice actually sounds better than usual. Hmmmm. ****************************************A few days ago I received the following email that included an ancient photo attachment of myself performing with Mr. Sinatra. Below is a reproduction of that email:

Sent: Wednesday, December 02, 2009 4:48 PMSubject: Anyone here you recognize?Hi Dick. Just found your blog and still recognized you from a picture I've had for a long time. Thought you'd enjoy having this. I believe it was taken at Frank's golf tournament at the Canyon Hotel on Murray Canyon Drive around 1975. I understand that the building is no longer standing. Great memories from great days. Drop me an email and let you know what you think. I wish my scanner were of more recent vintage but this is about the best I can do.I moved back to Chicago area about 15 years ago and really do miss Palm Springs as the days grow colder. Of course I miss you and your great jazz at the Biltmore and the Trinidad. Is Joe Massters still alive?. I'd love to get in touch with him. I look forward to hearing from you. Hope you enjoy the attached picture as much as I used to enjoy your fantastic jazz playing.F M J

****************************I decided to do some research to update my knowledge on Joe and was amazed to find the following:****************************In the early 50's, Joe Massters was house pianist at George Wein's Storeyville in Boston. He worked with Dizzy Gillespie's Big Band, Clifford Brown/Max Roach Quintet with Sonny Rollins, Art Blakey's Jazz Messengers, and alongside artists such as Miles Davis and Bill Evans. He was accompanist-conductor for Johnny Mathis and Anita O'Day, including recording for Norman Granz' Verve label, performing at the first Newport Jazz Festival. His composition "The Jazz Mass" was recorded and released by Columbia Records during the early 60's, and has been performed internationally. He also appeared on Johnny Carson's "Tonight Show" . Moving to Palm Springs for the next 30 years, Joe became the premier singer/lounge performer of the desert jazz scene. Frank Sinatra called him "one of the best saloon singers in the business."Chris Clark learned bass at jam sessions in south central LA with the likes of Dexter Gordon, Wardell Gray, Bobby Hutcherson and Gerald Wiggins. He joined Les Brown's Band of Renoun at the age of 20, appearing in Jerry Lewis' "The Nutty Professor" and touring with Bob Hope's USO Christmas shows. He went on to work with Vic Damone, Della Reese, Chris Connor, Red Norvo, and the CBS staff band. Settling on Orcas Island in Washington State, he continues to perform with big bands and swingers.****************************I guess I spent too much time being in awe of Mr. Sinatra when equal awe should have been accorded to Mr. Massters. Click here to go to Joe's Website and check out his latest CD. From the audio samples on this site, Joe sounds as if he's playing as well as ever. And that is very very well indeed!

Monday, December 1, 2008

I'll be backing good friend Herb Jeffries at the Mizell Senior Center Christmas party on December 23rd. Should be good to see Herb again. He's still singing great at 97? Wow! Check my older posts on this site for a nice picture of Herb and myself. (Herb's the one worth looking at since he was much younger (96) when that picture was taken.)

I'm participating in an ongoing speaker series at the center and do a presentation on the second Thursday of each month at 1 PM. Subject varies but always seems to include jazz. Hope you can make it by.

After more than a year of performing at Cipolline Restaurant here in Palm Springs, I've decided to cut back and just do private parties in addition to my performances at the Mizell Senior Center and various nursing homes. I'm still playing piano every Monday from 11 to 11:3o at the senior center and my jam session that I've been hosting for more than 12 years from 10 AM to Noon on Wednesdays is drawing about 15-20 musicians each session. In a week or two we'll have to pass out tickets and turn listeners away after the count reaches 120. (Fire dept. will shut us down if we exceed the room capacity.) If you're in the Palm Springs are, come and see the jam. I think you'll find it worth your time. If you're a player, bring your axe! While the music is quite good most of the time, it's our primary goal to see that everyone has a good time and that everybody gets their turn irrespective of their level of brilliance. While we usually play jazz and standards, a few cowboy and rock things also get sneaked in. Most importantly, we all have fun! I should warn you that if you are inclined to request Glenn Miller's "In the Mood", please remember to bring a crisp $100 bill with you. Sorry! American Express, Visa and Master Card are not accepted. :-) http://www.mizell.org/Pages/music.htm

I hope to update this again before another six months get past. If you need a one man band or a live group, please contact me. I love doing those private parties!

In the meantime I wish you a very Merry Christmas and Happy New Year! (Boy will these wishes be out of date by the time I get back to this blog!)

If you want to see my bio and stuff it's waaaaaaaaaaaaay back on this site somewhere. I do plan to reorganize this site one of these days but in the meantime don't hold your breath! :-)

Monday, January 14, 2008

From 6 to 9 P.M. every Monday and Tuesday I'm playing piano at Cipolline Italian restaurant located at 1260 S. Palm Canyon Drive (across the street from the former Cedar Creek Inn) in Palm Spings. We'd love to see you in attendance. The food is excellent, so far as I can determine by my taste buds and the comments from others. Prices are reasonable and serving portions are sufficient for all but the hungriest.

It's very likely that guest musicians and singers will show up from time to time as seems to happen where ever I play. Come and be surprised just like I am inasmuch as I never quite know what's going to happen on a given night. But we always seem to have fun irregardless of what happens.

I'm still hosting my jam session every Wednesday from 10 to noon at the Mizell Senior Center (corner of Ramon Road and Sunrise way in Palm Springs). I also play solo piano there every Monday from 11 to 11:30 for the lunch crowd. Price is $4.00 for a very nice lunch.

For the time being I'm no longer at the American Legion on Friday nights. After having the band there for more than 10 years, I decided that I'd like to make myself available for private parties on week-ends and so far things are working out nicely. If you're interested in hireing me either as a one man band or with my live group or as a solo pianist, please contact me at 760.325.8181.

I'm sorry to be so inattentive to updating this blog. I forgot my password and had troubles logging on. Hey! Don't give me a rough time. I still remember where I live and recognize my bride of nearly 40 years on sight! :-)

Tuesday, September 4, 2007

In a few days the Waverly (Iowa) High School class of '57 will be holding their 50th reunion. Being in total denial that I could possibly be a member of such an ancient group, I do not plan to travel the more than two thousand miles that would be mandated for my attendance and return home. (Could the fact that my doctor thinks I'm far too old and brittle to be that far away from his care and constant supervision possibly also be a factor? Naaaaw!)

In order to firmly establish my claims of ongoing youth, I've included a recent a photo of my wonderful wife, Sharon, and myself (see above) that was secretly taken by paparazzi as we were casually attempting to shop for bathroom plumbing parts at the local Palm Springs Wal*Mart store.

Seriously, I sincerely wish it were possible for us to attend and do send my warmest greetings to each and every one of my classmates. May God continue to long bless the WHS Class of '57!

Welcome to Dick Broadie's website!

In the above photo I can be seen performing at a Los Angeles jazz festival with Allan Vaché, clarinet, Isla Eckinger, bass, Ed Polcer, cornet and Hal Smith, drums. These guys are fantastic players! Wow! Great fun for me!

This blog is mainly focused on my musical activities. If you wish to dig through this site to my oldest of old posts, theres a couple of bios there that mention my "expertise" in diverse fields including mental health legislation and electronics inventions. An endless strings of names are also dropped there that don't really mean all that much.

Having lived in Palm Springs, CA for more than 40 years, I do daily receive great recognition for being the father of Brian, Brendan and Kevin Broadie as well as for being the husband of Sharon Broadie. This is my greatest honor. In this I am truly blessed!

I do apoligize in advance for not frequently updating this site. If you want to contact me, please drop me an email at rbroadie@dc.rr.com and I promise to respond within a week or so. Since I "retired" I don't seem to have the spare time I once had.